Written by Julie Criscione, Geology Museum Assistant
Our very own Dr. Lauren Neitzke Adamo has been selected for a PolarTREC Expedition to the Swiss Alps to study the sliding rate of glaciers!
PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a program that selects formal and informal educators to spend 3 to 6 weeks participating in hands-on research in the Arctic and Antarctic with the goal of increasing interest and awareness of polar science. The program, funded by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), began about 10 years ago and has already provided more than 150 teachers with hands-on field research experience.
Dr. Adamo is currently in Switzerland preparing for her expedition into the Alps. Her research with Drs. Neal Iverson (Iowa State University) and Lucas Zoet (University of Wisconsin-Madison) in the Valais Canton will begin on August 10th. The goal of the project is to develop the mathematical relationships (also called sliding laws) necessary to predict the sliding speeds of the glaciers.
Accurate sliding laws are necessary to create models of ice-sheet flow and the associated sea-level rise. In order to better understand the sliding laws in the Swiss Alps, the team will be using drones to get detailed measurements of the topography of the forefields of seven receding glaciers. This topography will then be used to develop computer models that will allow the team to determine the sliding laws governing the glaciers. This work is extremely important because it will help to predict future glacial change.
Follow her adventures through the Alps here.
Be sure to check out her live-streaming event from the Alps on August 23!
